Wednesday, 25 June 2014

26 June 2014

Just when it
seemed almost impossible, there has been a new twist in the Donghua Liu saga.
No, I am not referring to his amended statement about the nature of his
relationships with and contributions to the Labour Party. Nor am I referring to
the apparent amnesia of the man who granted him permanent residence in the
first place.

Rather, the
latest developments reveal something far more worrying about the relationship
of the citizenry to its elected representatives. As I feared, the antics of Mr
Liu and others like him appear to be leading to a loss of confidence amongst
members of the public about the traditional role of MPs as the constituents’
advocate when they have issues to pursue with the government or one of its
agencies.

A widely respected
constituent of mine, whom I have been privileged to know for many years,
contacted me last week about some issues he was facing. He said it was the
first time he had ever felt the need to contact an MP, and then he added this
chilling statement: “In light of current difficulties experienced by MPs trying
to assist constituents, I certainly do not expect you to become directly
involved, but merely advise who I should be contacting, or have them contact
me.”

This is an
appalling state of affairs if good, decent constituents feel unable to seek the
assistance of their MPs, because of fears of perceptions of undue influence,
brought on by the improper actions of the few who have tried to exert such
influence – usually through the lure of financial support – to achieve their
ends. MPs helping constituents, without fear, favour or recompense has been at
the heart of our system forever, and it is extremely worrying if constituents
now feel constrained from seeking that help.

So, what to do?
In part, the answer lies with considering whether there ought to be limits
placed on the amounts individuals can donate to political parties within
specified time periods to blunt the influence of wealthy individuals. But MPs
have to accept some responsibility as well. A new sense of wariness needs to be
inculcated amongst them, especially where the attraction of the big dollar is
concerned.

It is a truism
that MPs have a duty to represent all their constituents, regardless of
political allegiance, which most MPs honour. But it will become a serious problem
if constituents begin to feel that they can no longer solicit their MPs’
assistance when they need it, because of fears of perceived undue influence.
Yet, if my constituent’s concerns are widespread, as I suspect they may be from
other conversations, that will be the unintended consequence of the Liu saga.
People may well choose to just suffer injustice in silence. And when people
lose confidence in the system that way, and the capacity of their MPs to
represent them when they need it, the premise on which our representative
democracy has been founded will really begin to totter quite sharply.

1 comment:

Hey Peter... I'm not going away and if you take my advice you might not look really bad in 4-6 months..

What are you doing about new synthetic chemicals being imported?

1. Testing2. Imports/customs3. Stop retailers selling untested drugs

Just look at https://www.facebook.com/Shoshashop do you even know that already new 'untested' drugs are being sold... and no, it's not JUST tea leaves!!! wake up, this is only going to get worse again for you :(

Please don't take this as a threat, I really am handing you good advice before it turns to crap on you again.